The prior art abounds with apparatuses useful for retaining devices such as batteries and the like. The most conventional of all such prior art devices comprises a metal tray anchored to the frame or floor of a vehicle for supporting the battery, a metallic cover for fitting over and engaging the top of the battery, and two metallic rods each having a hook at its lower end for engaging the walls of openings in opposite edges of the tray and being threaded at its upper end for insertion through an opening in the cover for receiving a nut, which when tightened, closes the cover against the top of the battery to anchor the battery to the tray and the frame or floor of the vehicle. The cover, in this most conventional prior art device, is either a metallic cross piece that straddles the battery between its cell groups or is a rectangular metallic member having a large rectangular opening in its center which forms a L-shaped cross-sectional border on its outer edges for surrounding and engaging the upper edges of the battery. The principal disadvantage of most such prior art devices is that the metal parts corrode when coming in contact with the acid electrolyte of the battery.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,572 discloses a tie down device for a battery comprising a rectangular tray for supporting the battery, two openings in opposed edges of the rectangular tray, and an elastic hold down member having a hook adjacent each of its ends for insertion into the openings of the tray to engage the walls of each opening. In use, the battery is placed into the tray, a hook on one end of the elastic member is inserted into one opening in said tray, the elastic member is stretched up the side of the battery, over the top of the battery between its cell groups, and down the other side of the battery where the other hook is inserted into the other opening in the tray to engage the walls of the opening, thus securing the battery to the tray.
There have also been prior art devices which include a container for housing a battery within a vehicle, which container has bottom and top portions secured together by a belt wrapped around the container. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,052,449 and 3,437,164 are exemplary of such prior art devices.
The instant invention relates to a clamping apparatus made substantially of non-metallic material for holding down a battery in a motorized vehicle such as a boat, automobile or truck to prevent the battery from moving particularly during sudden accelerations and decelerations, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art devices.
An object of the present invention is to provide a clamping apparatus primarily adapted to hold down devices, such as batteries in motorized vehicles, in an effective, efficient, and economical manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hold down apparatus which engages the device to be held down in a manner such that the device cannot move about.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a hold down apparatus which is substantially entirely non-metallic, and impervious to the acid electrolyte of the battery thereby precluding corrosion of the hold down apparatus.
Another further object of the invention is to provide a hold down apparatus for devices, such as batteries for use in motorized vehicles, which is easy to install and maintain and permits ready and quick removal or replacement of the device being held down.
These objects as well as other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent after reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.